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Writer: pompeyrug 
Date:Monday March 17 2008
Time: 8:06AM
UK time is: 23:31:40
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What a difference a week makes...
A little over a week ago it was not quite doom and gloom, but many people were worried about the direction our season could, and in fact probably would take - many feared a near nailed on FA cup exit and then worried about the impact that could have on our league form, with it feared we could then plummet into mid season obscurity.
Very few gave us much hope of beating United at Old Trafford - not to say 'I told you so' but I had the belief that we could, call it blind optimism or being swayed by tinted specs but I really believed - and to be honest could you blame them? But as we know we pulled off the remarkable 1-0 victory to advance to the semi final, eventually drawing West Brom.
Next up came Birmingham at home, with Pompey usually the sublime is followed by the ridiculous and slipping up against them would not have surprised too many, but without being at our best - giving the ball away probably a record number of times in the 2nd half - we came through this potential banana skin winning 4-2...
We finished the week with Villa coming to town, they had been travelling well and failed to score very rarely this season but we managed to dispatch them 2-0 to achieve the double over them, having beaten them 3-1 at Villa Park in December and moved back up to 6th in the league, not bad eh!
We went into that week saying it could 'make or break' our season, granted we cannot get overly carried away with it as many times this season we have not played that well, particularly, and most frustratingly at home, but we are having our best season in donkies years - well since last year, which was then our best in donkies years... Teams winning when they might not be at there best is often the sign of a good team - and a good team is certainly what we are now.
The good times are rolling aren't they, the past week had been fantastic, we won 3 times in 7 days, overall played pretty well in all these games - sometimes better than others - as a team and individually, advanced to the FA cup semi final and with Everton losing still have an outside, albeit unlikely chance of grabbing a 5th place finish... how different things could have been, but thankfully it was a 7 days that we can now look back on with much joy and happiness, and long may this continue - bring on the Spurs!
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Your Comments
nice one Rug, picking up on your point on how we played - it's great to be able to play less than best and still win - that's what the Defoe and Baros combination appears to have given us..
ChrisW
I don't think even the most optimistic could have hoped for Baros and Defoe to click so well or would have predicted a goal a game average from Defoe. It has been the catalyst for other players to step up a notch as well. I hope HR doesn't shock us all and not sign Baros.
frattonaussie
This has been a great week no doubt about it. We started wondering how we could make Europe. We end it as favourites to do so. Players have played through injury and illness for the cause. Baros will be signed unless HR has a better player lined up.
eastneydave
we have to look at who we have striker wise: defoe, baros, kanu, nugent and to a degree utaka... it looks as tho nugent has run his race, so i think he'll be gone in the summer, i was expecting kanu to stay but i reckon he will now move on you know, he wants assurances over 1st team place i think, and he shouldnt get them - he's been a great footballer but i think he is now a spent force, crouchy would be his replacement for me, and with baros 'hopefully' signing permanently - if the price is right! - that would leave us with defoe, baros and crouchy next season, with it likely that another striker would also come in, unless utaka moves as a more out and out striker, if we even keep him, which im not sure we will...
pompeyrug
if we get ito europe we will be able to have enough games for all the players we have to be used and perhaps a couple more
pompeysno.9
we need players with Euro experience.... bring back Matty... bless him.
ChrisW
These really are amazing times to be a Pompey fan. Not just the cup run, but doing well in the league, and the players that we have now - these times will go down in legend. Hopefully as just the beginning.
tracyc
to be honest, i viewed the week starting with everton as make or break. in terms or european qualification, we looked like we needed to win that game to stand a chance, and if we lost that and our fa cup game, then confidence would slip away. when we lost to everton, i said that if we lost to man u, then our season would collapse. fortunaly, we didnt. then, i said we would loose to brum in the same way that spurs did. we didnt do that either. then i said we would loose to villa, as we wernt playing well, and they wpould punnish us. they didnt do that either. next up, spurs. low on confidence here for 2 reasons. 1) i wont be seeing the game live or on tele, and we always loose when i miss a game, and 2) its spurs, and we always seem to loose to them. even when we are playing well.
pompeycarpet
There may come at time when mid obscurity would be famtastic, but please not now. Just think what winning the FA Cup would do to the club, the players, you & me, the city. It just brings a huge smile to the face & a very warm glow inside. Bring it on.
storagematt
It's funny rug, we have had differing opinions about Kanu for much of the season and we still do. I think Kanu will stay. Two reasons; he appears to be more focused now and enjoying his game more and the other is that although he doesn't like being a super sub (his words) he realises he doesn't have many options. His move to Australia is now not on and he knows he isn't up to 90 minutes as a top league player so wherever he goes he is likely to end up on the bench unless he steps down a grade or 2 and his pride won't let him do that. Although I haven't been a fan of his I can see that with our present players he is useful to change the style and tempo of play when coming off the bench and upsetting the rythm of the opposition.
frattonaussie
Loved the comment about Matty, i hope that he does not end up back in the championship.
Maybe Bolton will offload him if they do go down, but Harry and Matty must have fallen out, so i cant really see him coming back.
Owenspompey
Picking up on what Matt said about a warm glow, he's spot on. The pride of Portsmouth as a City and a football club is an amazzing thing. Pompey is a city wwith a heart and at the moment that heart has been given a new leasse of life and is umping like it hasn't pumped in years.. The whole place is buzzing.. Imagine what it's gonna be like in a couple of Saturday mornings time when over a quarter of the island depart for Wembley.. They'll be scenes very few have ever witnessed - What a great time to be not only a Pompey fan but a Pompey boy ! - Bring it on
Chix
still not sure on how my travel plans for wembley will go - all being well a ticket will come through this week perhaps? - but it is most likely that i'll be travelling to london from pompey, having travelled up a day or so before... as previously said hopefully this will show the powers that be how much good it will do the city as a whole if they help us out with a new training complex and eventually stadium!
pompeyrug
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